This chapter is from the book

This chapter is from the book

Choosing the Right Font

What can you do to transform a plain vanilla document into something that a reader would forward to reviewing? Choose attractive fonts to generate interest in your subject. Make the titles and headings larger than the body text so that they really stand out. It only takes a few minutes, and the results are well worth your effort.

There are 900 fonts included with WordPerfect Office X3. Of these, 24 are the character set fonts, which contain the symbols and foreign language alphabets. During a typical installation, a default set of fonts is installed. The rest can be installed separately, using either the Install Wizard or the Windows Fonts folder. To use the Fonts folder, choose Start, Control Panel, Fonts. In the Fonts dialog box, choose File, Install New Font and follow the prompts.

Caution

As you format your document, remember to always, always, always position the insertion point first. As a general rule, your changes take effect at the insertion point, which may or may not be where you want them. If you forget and get some unexpected results, you've got a safety net: You can click the Undo button to reverse the last action (or continue clicking to reverse the last several actions).

Selecting Fonts

The quickest way to choose a different font is to click the Font Face drop-down arrow on the property bar. A drop-down list of fonts appears, and a large preview window pops up at the top of the document (see Figure 3.1). As you point to a font in the list, the sample text in the preview window morphs into that font. Thanks to Real Time Preview, the text in the document does the same thing. You don't have to play guessing games, trying to figure out how a font will look from a tiny piece of sample text—you can see how a whole page of text will look. When you find the font that you want, click it.

Figure 3.1 As you hover over fonts in the drop-down list, the sample text in the preview window and the text in the document morph into that font.

Caution

When you're changing the font (or font size) for existing text, such as a title or heading, select it first. Otherwise, the new font (or size) takes effect at the insertion point and stays in effect for the rest of the document (unless, of course, you change the font or size again later).

Selecting Font Sizes

Choosing a different font size works essentially the same way as choosing a different font. Click the Font Size drop-down arrow on the property bar to open a drop-down list of sizes. If you click the scroll arrows, you'll see that the list has sizes ranging from 6 points to 72 points. A point is a unit of measurement used to describe the size of a font. A 72-point character is 1" tall; a 36-point character is 1/2" tall, and so forth.

A preview window with sample text opens next to the list. As you move the mouse down through the list, the sample text and the document text expand and contract to show the new size.

Tip From

If you want to use a font size that isn't in the list, click the Font Size box (to select the current size), then type the size you want, then press Enter.

When you've decided which font you want to use for the body text, set that as the default font for the document. Likewise, if you select a font that you want to use for most, if not all, your documents, set that as the default for all new documents. Choose Format, Font to open the Font Properties dialog box. Make your selections, and then choose Settings. Choose Set Face and Point Size As Default for This Document or Set Face and Point Size As Default for All Documents.

Tip From

Have you ever been stuck making last-minute changes to a document on a machine that didn't have the same fonts installed? What was once a logistical nightmare is now completely painless, thanks to font-embedding technology. You can save fonts with a document so they go where the document goes. When you save a file, choose Embed Fonts using TrueDoc™ in the Save As dialog box. WordPerfect compresses the fonts and saves them with the file.

Tip From

Ever wish you had a "font catalog" that you could flip through? WordPerfect includes a nifty macro that prints out a sample of the fonts on your system. Choose Tools, Macro, Play, and then double-click the Allfonts icon. Bear in mind that if you have hundreds of fonts on your system (and who doesn't) it will take a while to build the document. It will also take a while to print and may overload your printer, depending on how much printer memory you have. If you are unable to print the entire font document, try breaking it up into several pieces.

To find a list of all the macros that ship with WordPerfect, along with the steps to create your own macros, see "Running the Shipping Macros," p. 570.

Selecting Recently Used Fonts by Using QuickFonts

Say you're formatting a lengthy report. You're finished experimenting, so you know which fonts you want to use for your headings and key terms. Even with the Font Face and Font Size drop-down lists, reselecting the same fonts and sizes over and over is tedious.

QuickFonts to the rescue! The last 10 fonts (with sizes and effects) you selected are kept in the QuickFonts list for fast access. Click the QuickFonts button on the property bar (see Figure 3.2), and then click the font you want to reuse. Sorry—no Real Time Preview here.

Figure 3.2 Click the QuickFonts button to select from the 10 most recently used fonts.